Paris - 09 avr. 2014: IBM (NYSE: IBM) annonce aujourd'hui une série de nouvelles offres de Cloud Computing pour le mainframe afin d’aider les clients et les fournisseurs de services à réduire le coût des opérations et à déployer rapidement des services de Cloud, en toute sécurité, avec la technologie mainframe. L'annonce d'aujourd'hui comprend la première solution intégrée à base de System z, l’IBM Enterprise Cloud System.

IBM annonce également de nouvelles offres pour System z qui offriront aux clients une plate-forme pour le développement et le déploiement rapides d'applications mobiles et l'intégration complète de celles-ci avec leurs processus métier, les applications et les données. Dans le cadre de l'annonce, IBM dévoile un nouveau modèle de tarification flexible pour les clients mainframe mobiles qui leur permettra de ne payer que pour la capacité de calcul dont ils ont besoin et qu’ils utilisent.

 

« Le mainframe est un formidable exemple d’une plateforme qui révolutionne l’informatique depuis 50 ans. Encore aujourd’hui, grâce à ses atouts que sont l’ouverture, la flexibilité, la performance et un niveau de sécurité inégalé, il est parfaitement adapté pour supporter les projets de Cloud Computing, Big Data et mobilité » déclare Alain Henry, Vice-Président System & Technology Group d’IBM France. « Ce n’est pas un hasard s’il porte 13% de l’économie en France et 65% des applications critiques des entreprises utilisatrices1 »

 

De nouvelles offres Cloud

Le nouveau IBM Enterprise Cloud System fournit une plate-forme intégrée, construite sur des standards ouverts, pour les clients et les fournisseurs de services qui cherchent à construire rapidement un environnement de Cloud Computing de confiance et capable de supporter des charges de travail critiques. En outre, un nouveau modèle flexible de tarification des services est également annoncé aujourd'hui. Il donnera aux fournisseurs de services la possibilité de payer pour les infrastructures de Cloud mainframe basées sur Linux en fonction de la consommation de calcul au fil du temps, plutôt qu’en fonction de la capacité du système.

Avec la possibilité de prendre en charge jusqu'à 6000 machines virtuelles dans un système unique, de fournir un environnement multi-tenant sécurisé et dynamique et de partager les ressources entre les charges de travail, le mainframe est particulièrement bien placé pour répondre aux besoins des fournisseurs de services de Cloud Computing et pour les déploiements dynamiques de Clouds privés. Grâce à une plus grande efficacité du système et à une plus grande évolutivité, le coût total des déploiements Cloud Linux sur System z peut être jusqu'à 55% inférieur au coût total de déploiement sur une infrastructure x86 comparable.

 

Le nouveau modèle de tarification "IBM MSP Utility Pricing for System z", proposé par IBM Global Financing, fournit des prix basés sur la consommation. Il est conçu spécialement pour rendre les technologies mainframe plus largement accessibles aux Managed Service Providers (MSP). Cette approche basée sur la consommation permet aux MSP de se concentrer sur la construction de leur entreprise plutôt que sur le coût de leur infrastructure.

 

De nouvelles solutions et tarifications pour les solutions mobiles

Avec trois fois plus de téléphones mobiles dans le monde que d’ordinateurs, il est essentiel que les entreprises disposent d'une infrastructure informatique qui puisse améliorer leur capacité à fournir de nouveaux services mobiles et de Cloud Computing.

La croissance du nombre de transactions mobiles est difficile à gérer pour les entreprises qui y voient également une augmentation associée de leurs coûts liés à l'intégration de nouvelles applications mobiles. La solution IBM System z pour l'informatique mobile permet à ces entreprises d'intégrer rapidement et offrir de nouveaux services mobiles et Cloud menant à une meilleure expérience pour leurs clients. Les annonces d'aujourd'hui incluent une tarification flexible qui peut aider à résoudre ces problématiques de coûts entraînés par la croissance des transactions en ligne et mobiles. La nouvelle solution réduit les coûts de logiciels pour transactions mobiles jusqu'à 60%, permettant aux entreprises d'accueillir encore plus de transactions mobiles qui peuvent accéder aux applications d'entreprise sur le mainframe et améliorer davantage les services pour leurs clients.

 

En plus des solutions mobiles et Cloud, l'annonce d'aujourd'hui est complétée par une série d'offres pour aider les clients à exploiter encore mieux leurs données :

 

·   Logiciel zDoop – En collaboration avec Veristorm, IBM fournira le premier Hadoop pour Linux sur System z. Cela permettra aux clients d'éviter le déchargement de données mainframe et donc de maintenir les contrôles de sécurité et de gouvernance existants;

·   Flash for mainframe : La prochaine génération de stockage flash sur IBM DS8870 peut fournir jusqu'à 4X la performance des SSD;

·   IBM WebSphere Liberty z/OS Connect - Accès rapide et sécurisé de transactions web, Cloud et mobiles aux actifs z/OS;

 

Formation de la prochaine génération d'utilisateurs de mainframe

Dans le cadre de son engagement continu dédié à la croissance et au développement de l'écosystème mainframe, IBM annonce trois nouvelles offres de formation en ligne. Ces Massive Open On-line Courses (MOOCs) sont fournis grâce à des partenariats avec l'Université de Syracuse, le Marist College, et la Fondation Linux et seront disponibles progressivement au cours de l'année. Tous les cours sont gratuits et accessibles à tous, n'importe où, à tout moment.

Les informations sur les nouveaux cours peuvent être consultées sur le site IBM Academic Initiative depuis le 8 Avril 2014.

 

Pour en savoir sur l’IBM System z : http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/fr/z/

 

1 Source : Etude IDC « L’impact économique du mainframe en France » – décembre 2013

 

                                                         ***

 

IBM Debuts new Mobile, Storage and Hadoop Offerings for the Mainframe

  

New York, New York - 08 Apr 2014: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new offerings for System z that will provide clients with a platform for the rapid development and deployment of mobile applications and the complete integration of these with their core business processes, applications and data. As part of the announcement, IBM is also unveiling a new flexible pricing model for mobile mainframe clients that will allow them to pay only for the computing capacity they need and use.

 

With three times the number of mobile phones in the world as computers, it is essential that businesses have an IT infrastructure that can enhance their ability to deliver new mobile and cloudservices. [1] Combined with trends showing that by 2015, there will be twenty times more content, fifteen times more applications and four times the number of mobile transactions as there were in 2011, it is clear why many organizations are turning to the mainframe to manage their enterprises. [2] 

 

The growth in the number of mobile transactions is challenging businesses that are seeing a concurrent rise in their costs related to integrating new mobile applications. The IBM System z Solution for Mobile Computing can help these businesses to rapidly integrate and deliver new mobile and cloud services leading to a better experience for their customers.  Today’s news expands this offering by announcing new pricing for mobile workloads on z/OS which can improve the cost of growth for mobile transaction volumes that can cause a spike in software charges.  This new pricing will provide up to a 60 percent reduction on the processor capacity reported for Mobile transactions, which can help normalize the rate of transaction growth used for software charges. 

 

In Africa, most of the population has a cell phone – First National Bank (FNB) was looking for an opportunity to transform an entire continent through its most popular channel: the mobile device. Creating a series of mobile banking tools, FNB increased its transactions to more than 230 million a month. With their increasingly popular new banking tools, FNB needed infrastructure that could support the swell of transactions and new users. FNB looked to IBM System z to handle the load and provide insights on its services, improve its business and provide a better overall customer experience. 

 

“Mobile transactions have grown at an exponential rate as we expand our range of services, client experience and reach, far outpacing growth in traditional transactions” said Jay Prag, Chief Information Officer, Hogan Channel Integration, FNB. “The mainframe environment allows us to dynamically scale and grow in a cost efficient manner” 

 

Better data management and faster insights with new storage and Hadoop offerings 

Throughout the past five decades, the mainframe has evolved, with a steady stream of technical innovations that have helped businesses to continuously adapt to changing market demands. In addition to the mobile solutions, today’s announcement continues this evolution with a series of offerings to help clients gain even more insight into their data, including: 

·         zDoop software – Working with IBM, Veristorm is providing the industry’s first commercial Hadoop for Linux on System z. This will help clients to avoid staging and offloading of mainframe data to maintain existing security and governance controls;

·         Flash for mainframe – The next generation of flash storage on IBM DS8870 can provide faster time to insight with up to 30X the performance over HDD; [3]

·         Continuous Integration for System z – Compresses the application delivery cycle from months to weeks or days.   

·         New version of IBM CICS Transaction Server – Delivers enhanced mobile and cloud support for CICS, trusted by businesses running more than 1 billion transactions per day

·         IBM WebSphere Liberty z/OS Connect - Rapid and secure enablement of web, cloud and mobile access to z/OS assets;

·         IBM Security zSecure SSE – Helps prevent malicious computer attacks with enhanced security intelligence and compliance reporting. zSecure can direct security events to QRadar SIEM to provide integrated enterprise wide security intelligence dashboard reporting.   

 

IBM Global Financing can help clients acquire z Mainframe systems, with a single financing solution to better manage their cloud and analytics infrastructure, and accelerate business transformation including the new Mobile, Storage and Hadoop Offerings.  Our financing programs and offerings can help clients match the benefits of reduced upfront costs and faster return on investment over time with existing mainframe budget commitments. Credit-qualified clients can obtain Fair Market Value leasing and loans with customized payment plans when acquiring mainframe solutions. Additionally, IBM Global Asset Recovery Services can provide buyback and disposal services for removal of older IT equipment. 

 

Training the next generation of Mainframe users 

The IBM Academic Initiative helps to provide schools with the education resources they need to introduce and develop enterprise-computing skills to students to help them gain exposure to job opportunities and careers. The program helps to facilitate student learning in high demand IT skills and links employers to available students and professional talent.   For more than seven years, IBM has worked with students, professors, businesses and universities to provide mainframe training and curriculum resources to more than 180,000 students at over 1,000 schools in 70 countries. 

 

As part of this continuing commitment to the growth and development of the mainframe ecosystem, IBM is also announcing three new on-line educational offerings.  These Massive Open On-line Courses (MOOCs) are being provided through partnerships with Syracuse University, Marist College, and the Linux Foundation and will be made available in stages throughout the year.  All courses are no cost and available to anyone, anywhere, at any time. 

 

Information on the new courses may be accessed through the IBM Academic Initiative Homepageany time after April 8, 2014.   

For more information on IBM System z visit ibm.co/mf50

 

[1] (EDN Network, July 19, 2012)

[2] (IBM Mobile Business Insights, Tom Vassons, January 22, 2014)

[3] As compared to previous generation IBM HDD

 

 

                                                           ***

 IBM Brings New Cloud Offerings, Research Projects and Pricing Plans to the Mainframe

New integrated system provides rapid foundation for trusted cloud deployments

  

New York, New York - 08 Apr 2014: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a series of new enterprise cloud offerings for the mainframe which will help clients and service providers reduce the cost of operations and rapidly deploy trusted cloud services with mainframe technology. Today’s announcement includes the first System z-based integrated system offering, the IBM Enterprise Cloud System.

 

The new IBM Enterprise Cloud System provides an integrated platform, built upon open standards, for clients and service providers looking to rapidly build out a trusted cloud environment capable of supporting mission-critical workloads.  Additionally, a new flexible utility pricing model being announced today will provide service providers with the ability to pay for Linux based mainframe cloud infrastructure over time based on compute consumption, rather than system capacity. 

 

With the ability to support up to 6,000 Virtual Machines in a single system, provide a secure multi-tenant environment and dynamically share resources across workloads, the mainframe is uniquely positioned to meet the enterprise cloud infrastructure needs of cloud service providers and dynamic private cloud deployments. Thanks to higher system efficiency and greater scalability, the total cost of some Linux on System z cloud deployments can by up to 55 percent less than comparable x86-based cloud infrastructure. [1] 

 

Building upon these strengths, the IBM Enterprise Cloud System is factory built and configured with automated cloud orchestration and monitoring to allow clients to rapidly deploy enterprise-grade cloud services. Combining System z hardware, IBM storage and IBM cloud management software into a single IaaS solution [2], this offering will help IT organizations and cloud service providers deliver a differentiated level of service capable of supporting mission critical workloads. Bringing these mainframe qualities of service to the cloud will also allow providers to address many of the common concerns regarding security and downtime that have been associated with the cloud. 

 

The new “IBM MSP Utility Pricing for System z” pricing model, delivered through IBM Global Financing, provides consumption-based pricing designed especially to make mainframe technologies more widely accessible to Managed Service Providers (MSPs).  This consumption-based approach allows an MSP to focus on building their business rather than on the cost of their infrastructure. 

 

As the cloud market evolves to service an ever-larger share and type of IT workloads, clients are increasingly turning to the mainframe to provide the basis for their cloud deployments. For example, Business Connextions (BCX), the largest enterprise cloud service provider in Africa, is developing an innovative “cloud-in-a-box” solution to help telcos provide Internet services to previously unreached areas. These “pop-up” data centers will use about the same amount of energy as a clothes dryer, and help BCX bring internet cloud services to the 85 percent of Africans who are without connectivity. 

 

The Mainframe as an engine for research 

The analytic capabilities of the mainframe are also being applied to key research projects.  As part of today’s news, IBM unveiled three new projects that are either First of a Kind (FOAK) or provide the scientific community with new analytic capabilities to solve difficult challenges. 

 

IBM Research is currently working with various municipalities and key business partners on a FOAK project that can bring data together and help state and local agencies migrate IT operations to a cloud environment running on System z.  This new environment can help improve data sharing between departments, agencies, and municipalities to improve citizen services. 

 

Additionally, IBM is working with healthcare scientists on two critical projects one to help alleviate the suffering of arthritis patients and the other to help eradicate the scourge of HIV in Africa. 

 

Although there are treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis, only 30 percent of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients respond to anti-TNF therapy.  IBM Research and the Arthritis foundation are harnessing mainframe computing power to collect data and develop predictive models that will help doctors know which patients are most likely to respond to anti-TNF therapy. 

 

Finally, the Government of Ghana recently announced that it is partnering with IBM and Yale to use the mainframe to help overcome the challenges facing researchers as it seeks to eradicate mother-to-child HIV. Healthcare workers in Ghana will use mobile devices to collect data that will then be uploaded and analyzed on an IBM mainframe to help provide key insights for proactive treatment and prevention programs. 

 

For more information on IBM System z visit ibm.co/mf50 

 

[1] For zEC12 system with 100 IFLs averaging 60 virtual machines per IFL

[2] Combines IBM zEnterprise Linux Server (zBC12 or zEC12), IBM Storage (v7000 or DS8000) with IBM z/VM, IBM Wave for z/VM and IBM Cloud Management Suite (SmartCloud Orchestrator, OMEGAMON XE and Tivoli Storage Manager) to provide fully automated cloud management and infrastructure foundation.